ELVASTON, Derbyshire - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"ELVASTON, a parish in the hundred of Morleston, county Derby, 6 miles S.E. of Derby, its post town, and 2 S. of the Draycar station on the Derby and Nottingham branch of the Midland Counties railway. It is situated between the rivers Derwent and Trent, and is intersected by the road from Derby to London. It includes the hamlets of Ambaston and Thurlston. Alabaster is found here. The soil is a rich loam, resting upon a substratum of gravel.

The land is chiefly pasture. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield, value £350. The church is an ancient structure with a lofty tower, surmounted by pinnacles. It is dedicated to St. Bartholomew, and contains monuments to the Stanhope and Harrington families. The parochial charities produce about £150 per annum, £100 of which is solely for the poor. Elvaston Castle is the seat of the Earl of Harrington, who is lord of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin HINSON ©2003]